Fey Sight
by starryclimes
Summary: Arthur is a college student who has "the sight". Stuck in the US, he runs across Alfred, a young worker at the local supermarket/retail establishment who in Arthur's eyes has a set of wings! Flirtation ensues as two worlds collide. Can the two set of rules and places let them exist together?
1. Prologue

A/N: For**snowshoebombay**, I managed alot of firsts completing this fic! It is my first multi-part fic, my first attempt at Urban fantasy, and first Secret Santa! I hope you you like it! Happy Holidays!  
Beta'd by my constant supporter **enid_black**. Chapters will be posted daily!

This is based on the prompt: an AU where Alfred is half supernatural and how he falls in love with Arthur. I also included the prompt: a short argument between Arthur and Alfred about how British English and American English differ in pronuncation (not sure if there's anything cute about it though! sorry!).

PROLOGUE

"Arthur!"

The voice carried across the green lawn and gardens.

Arthur ignored it, his green eyes flashing with delight at what Peaseblossom had said. Her slight pixie form now rested on his shoulder, powdering his shirt with glitter. A little tug on the back of his hair told him that Posie was trying to braid his hair again. Little hands weaving tiny little knots that would make him curse when he tried to comb it. Today though, he didn't care. It was his last day at home before he flew off to the States for Uni.

"So young Master," Hob's voice carried a slight mockery, but the little gnome was always caring towards Arthur. In return Arthur always brought favors such as buttons and thimbles to please the gnome. Hob always spoke as if Arthur was lucky and charmed and no one in Arthur's life did that, except his mum sometimes.

His brothers hated him and he had done nothing to help his cause. Too late he had realized that he had ruined his chances to have a good relationship with them. Being the 'spoiled brat' and other worse names of the family made him an outcast and hated.

"Off to your mortal lessons?"

"Something like that." Arthur sighed as his favorite unicorn watched him from afar. "I dread it. Sometimes I wish I could just run away. Maybe if you would take me to Faerie?"

Hob laughed, "One cannot run away from things."

"One can try," countered Arthur stubbornly. He saw that the unicorn had taken the proffered apple as a treat, and it put a little happiness inside him.

There were soft chimes from his left, and brash ones from behind.

"The pixies are right. There is naught to fear, for we are always with you, and even those who cannot see us. For if Faerie is in your heart and mind, it always exists, no matter where you are."

"Like Lothlorien?" Arthur mused. Bells tinkled around him.

"Arthur!" His mum's voice picked up in agitation.

Hobs patted his knee reassuringly, "So if it deeply dwells in you, where can you run from it?"

Arthur laughed, "I want to run _to_ Faerie, not _from_ it!"

Wisely shaking his head Hobs noted, "Some things are better unseen."

The sun shone down on their meeting and Arthur didn't want to move. Didn't want to fly seven hours to the country where everything had to be super-sized and instantly delivered. Didn't want to have to hear his Father nattering on about how his grades were so good, or all the girls chasing him for his accent and finding out it was all for nothing. While musing, Arthur watched the bluebells nodding by daisies, the roses entwined around the far off fence of the yard as if he weren't going to see it again.

"Arthur!"

Arthur knew when his mum was about to lose patience with him and kick off, so he finally called, responded loudly, "Mum! I'm here. Alright, yeah?"

Her hair was wild like his, and her eyes just as green. "Arthur! We've got to get you to your plane! And have you packed?"

"Mum, I'm twenty years old, not in primary anymore, yes, I've packed!"

"Well," his mum drew a deep breath, "You have to make your plane on time, or your Father won't like it if you miss it. Might not pay for it the next time."

"Yeah, yeah," Arthur started up the path to the house. His friends were gone, he noted, the resting unicorn no longer on the green and Hobs and the pixies vanished, although he had a feeling that Posie was in hiding in his hair.

"Hey now, no stowaways." A sad chime came back.

"What?" Arthur's mum asked.

"Nothing," Arthur sighed. He looked over the greenery and the soft shining dust twinkling in the sun from Posie flying away.

The wind rushed by suddenly, and he could swear within the breeze was a female voice saying, "Careful for what you wish for, Mortal." The leaves laughed at him, shaking through the wind.

Arthur shook his head and mentally prepared him for the long flight to the states. At least Kiku would be there, and he could always do his experiment of tempting a house sprite into his dormitory. He shook his head, and, heavy hearted, climbed past the rich gardens to his house.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: everything belongs to hima. For snowshoebombay, who writes such lovely stories, for the 2012 usxuk Secret Santa exchange. I'm sorry it's taken awhile, I have been fighting flu and slow Internet.**

CHAPTER 1

At first Arthur thought it was a trick of the overhead florescent lights. After all, he saw many things that other people just didn't seem to see, sometimes just from the corner of his eye. Sometimes Arthur wasn't sure what he had seen, but in this case he was having a hard time pretending he was seeing nothing.

The second thought was that it might have been his wishful thinking coming true. The tall, hardworking teenager in front of him had the loveliest golden hair and an arse from heaven, and it was on him they appeared. No, Arthur shook his head in disbelief; it was just as he had first seen it, a wingspan of long,shimmering blue and green fairy wings, with a slight aura of silver.

As the teenager moved, the wings moved with him, and the handsome blond seemed to enjoy that no one could see them, snapping them in and out as if it were a game. The glamour surrounding him was thick, well woven, and at certain times, out of the corner of his eye, Arthur noticed the fey teenager looked purely human, the wings vanishing in a flicker.

"Can I help you with something?" The question shook Arthur out of his reverie. A wide smile accompanied with bright blue eyes made him blank out. He realized that his feet had brought him straight to his enchanted subject and that Arthur was standing right outside the frozen food section, the "slam" and "shick" of the frosted rows of doors being opened and shut as shoppers reached in to grab the food they wanted noisily surrounded him.

The winged worker had been stocking one of the frozen food shelves and hung out of an open door; the cold emanated from the freezer nipping at Arthur's nose and making him shiver. His smile still lingered, and the box of frozen bags of vegetables sat by their feet.

"Ah, no…" Arthur stuttered, his mind blank.

"Am I in your way?" Asked the teenager, or _Alfred_, Arthur mentally corrected himself, reading the badge on Alfred's shirt.

"Um..." Arthur desperately glanced at the bags of food on the cooler shelves, but the glass doors had misted over with frost.

Those magnificent blue iridescent wings twitched. With a grin Alfred stepped around Arthur and said, "Let me know if you need help finding anything."

Arthur flushed. He had just looked like an utter idiot. _Bollocks, bugger, way to go_, he mentally chastised himself.

Alfred walked towards down the cart of food to be stocked. Arthur watched him longingly as he laughed and joked with a Russian sounding coworker. Arthur couldn't help staring. Feeling like a creep, he kept walking back and forth peeking down the aisles, to watch Alfred, smiling, joking around, helping a little old lady get milk out from the dairy section and put it in her trolley for her, and those beautiful wings glimmering and shimmering under the harsh light. If only he could get enough courage to talk to him again.

Alfred made eye contact with him, and Arthur turned away, embarrassed, to peer at whatever was on the end cap of the shelves nearest to him. His heart hammered, _please ignore me, _his heart hammered, _please talk to me again,_ came his hope in the next beat. His cheeks started to flush.

"Looking for something for your girlfriend? I can get one of the girls to help?" Alfred's smile was even in his voice.

_Girlfriend?_ To Arthur's dismay he realized he was looking at napkin pads and tampons being displayed on sale. The bright pink boxes and red sale sign advertising free mascara with purchase glared at him.

"Bugger." He muttered. He could feel his flush all the way up to his ear tips. "Uh..no..rather." _Think, Arthur, think. Something, anything…_

Alfred just straightened something on the next aisle's side end cap and waited.

"Um, I am looking for a calendar."

"A what?" Alfred was staring, his head cocked, a ridiculous piece of hair that stuck up from his fringe waved about.

"A calendar."

"Er…" Alfred smiled, nodding, but his eyes were conveying lack of comprehension.

"You know…A calenh-dahr." An emphasis was put on every syllable. Arthur was getting desperate. Maybe the faerie was really too new to this world. Maybe Alfred had never heard of calendars. "You have the days and months on it. You write notes and special dates on it."

"Ohh…." Alfred's replied was long and drawn out, and accompanied with a laugh. He reached behind to ruffle the back of his head. "A cal-_end_er," he repeated, pleased at finally understanding. Arthur stared. The word had been mangled and flattened, and what the world? American accents were horrendous.

"Yes, I suppose. A calen_dah_."

Alfred just shook his head. "No, dude, a cal_ender_."

"That's what I said! A calendar."

They just stared at each other. Defiant green eyes dueled with confused and amused blue eyes. Alfred finally laughed.

"Wow, you're old, man, most people have that on their phone or pda, or laptops nowadays."

"Well," Arthur blustered, "I like to have a tangible, physical something to write on and see, a cal-_ehn_-_dahr_." The last word was drawn out and emphasized.

"Yeah, yeah," Alfred laughed. "They are on the other side of the store-in the stationary department. Do you want me to walk with you and help you find the stationary section?"

_Shameless_, Arthur thought, _I am shameless_, "Sure. That would be great. Then I won't get lost."

Alfred just laughed at that, too, and said to his co-worker walking past, "Hey, Ivan, I'm going to take this guest over to the home office department."

"You are a lazy ass, Jones," came the accented reply of the almost white haired coworker, a scarf over his red shirt. Arthur thought he could have imagined it, but he swore the Russian gave Arthur an once-over, too.

He must be high fae, Arthur thought, as they walked across the store, past the shampoo aisle, past women's and men's clothes. Alfred was whistling and casually said, "So you don't have a girlfriend."

Arthur clutched his basket tighter, "No."

"Calendar for school?" Alfred said.

"University. I lost my last one."

"That doesn't surprise me." Alfred laughed.

_Git_, Arthur thought bitterly, _stupid, handsome fool_.

"Actually, I thought a new calendar would help my study schedule."

Alfred laughed. " I love your accent!" He stopped suddenly and became serious, "I mean, your British accent's cool. Are you from England?"

"Yes." Arthur was blushing again; he could feel it. "You Americans seem fascinated by the accent."

"Well, you know, calen_dah_ and cal_ender_ and skedule and _sh_edjule." The two British versions were mangled atrociously. "It just sounds cool. Well, here we are. I think we have personal planners around the corner."

"Thanks, Alfred." Arthur tested out the name on his tongue.

Alfred beamed. "Thanks! Glad to help."

Alfred's walkie squawked and with a small wave he strode off quickly toward the grocery section again, his wings bobbing and flowing behind him.

Arthur swore in his head. Multiple times, and then muttered to himself, "Just focus on studies, mate, no chasing boys."

Picking out a new organizing journal, he shook off the urge to head over to the store's grocery and health section again. _He was just nice, that's all. American customer service or whatever they bloody call it. _Heading to the front to check out, he couldn't help looking around for Alfred. _Stupid_, he chastised himself. As he walked out the sliding doors into the afternoon sunshine, he swore to himself he would never come back. Distractions of both sights were not needed in his life right now.

†††††

Alfred rushed into his bedroom like a whirling dervish, in the process intentionally bumping his brother who was on the computer. With a great thump, Alfred jumped into the bottom bunk of their bunkbeds, and put his arms over his head triumphantly. Matt rolled his eyes at his younger brother's antics, but asked the unspoken question begging to be asked, "What's up with you?"

Alfred just closed his eyes; he could see those deep green eyes, the kind that reminded him of the deep bowers of Faerie, on an intelligent and handsome face. He could hear the sexy (sometimes confusing), amusing British accent. The man had been slightly shorter than him, with those cute, thick eyebrows reminding him of caterpillars.

The man would be a treat to the Fae if he ever stumbled into the Realm. They would make him dance until he had stripped and then make him dance naked. Alfred would watch and wait. Wait for them to wear his mortal out and when the Fae tired of the dancing and had been distracted by some other sadistic game or fancy, he would take the man and lead him to his bower.

Alfred's fairy side ached to bemuse the mortal, and make him want Alfred in a way that that couldn't be soothed for hours. He would kiss those eyebrows and have as much sex as he wanted until the dawn. To be honest, Alfred could never do such a thing, it went against his hero mentality. For that reason, Alfred worried he had accidentally bemused the mortal, the way he had followed Alfred like a little lost puppy.

"Saw some eye candy today at work," was Alfred's answer to his brother.

"Does he like it in the ass?"

Alfred snorted. "He kept following me."

Matthew just turned back at the computer's pinging noise and started typing furiously.

"How's your Frenchie?" Alfred asked as he played with the support coils from the bed above.

"He's good."

Alfred saw the tips of his brother's ears turn red. "That's what she said," he snickered.

"Don't be a dick."

"Douche."

Alfred just grinned brightly. "Maybe my guy will be back tomorrow to see me again!"

"What?" Matthew turned to him a little perturbed, "You enamor him?"

Alfred pouted, "No, don't think of me that way."

"Whatever, I bet you wanted to sprinkle him with fairy dust and carry him off to neverneverland."

"It's the High Realm, Canuck."

"Whatever. What the hell?"

"I saw that you got your admission letter to that University up there."

"Whatever, that doesn't mean I'm Canadian."

"I also saw that you put in your citizenship papers." There was a note of sadness in Alfred's voice.

"Listen, Alfred," Matthew turned again, "You know that I spent a good deal of time up there when we were kids. I like it up there. I feel at home there. But I will always love you and this is my home, too."

Alfred turned to face the wall. Matt rolled his eyes at Alfred's sulking and went back to his chat.

Pushing away his fear of his brother leaving him again, Alfred thought of the handsome British university student again. He was wise not to mention his name to Alfred. Names had such power. If only he had his name, he could try to magick him back to see Alfred again. _Come back to me, Come back to me, Come back to me. _He thought over and over again in his head.

He sighed, and unfurled his wings for a good stretch before he went to bed.

"Boys." It was his mom in the hallway. It was good not to get attached; he had his Mom to think about. That's right, he needed to be a hero, and heroes couldn't get distracted.

"Yeah," was the double response.

"Have a good night. Sleep well. Love you."

"Love you too, mom."

Alfred shucked his clothes in the general area of the hamper after furling up his wings. The holes in the fabric were now apparent as the red shirt and khakis lay there limp and sadly, nowhere near making it into the hamper.

"Are you going to be on the computer long?" he said to Matt just to be nosy and annoying.

"Uh huh." Was the vague reply.

Curling up in his bed, feeling tired and weightless, he thought as he fell asleep, _Come back to me._


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ah! It's been over a month since I updated, so here is two chapters in a row. Suraj is India, Jack is Australia. Thank you for all the kind reviews and comments! I hope you enjoy! Everything belongs to Hima...except my version of Faerie. ;)**

"_O, when she's angry, she is keen and shrewd!_

_She was a vixen when she went to school;_

_And though she be but little, she is fierce."_

_-Midsummer's Night Dream, Shakespeare_

The afternoon sun streamed down on Arthur, as he sat in his favourite spot in the vast university library's third floor study section. From his vantage point he could see the tops and spires of the old, intricate buildings of the campus. Birds sat on the sill outside his window and he watched them chatter, hop, fly away, and come back, just to do it all over again.

Resting his head on his elbow, he could almost imagine the freedom they felt as they flitted about. If only he had that feeling of being free, with no strings attached, and being able to do whatever he wanted. He knew deep down that he always could, one could always do what one wanted, but the consequences of such actions and the rational side of Arthur's brain could never let go of his current engagements.

Wild dreams like touring with the band he had in high school, being fifteen again and having his Father force his brother's paths instead. Traveling across the world without looking back, exploring without qualm, and finding new places was another dream. Those were frivolous, stupid, and utterly ridiculous ideas now.

Groaning, Arthur sunk down into his arms, ignoring the soft pinging of his Facebook chat telling him that someone wanted to talk. And somehow his frenemy senses tingling, knew it was Francis. With a sigh he looked at his laptop's screen. The dashboard was scrolling, and as he went to shut the cover down in disgust, he saw one of his "friends" had liked his favourite convenience store.

He shopped there too and he wasn't going to 'like' the page, but it reminded him of his encounter with Alfred. It was embarrassing how much he had wanted to go back there, just to see him again. He had the other day, making a fake run for tea (this was sinking low, because they didn't have tea he would like), with no luck, and returning to his dorm with tea that made his roommate wrinkle his. The tea was politely set aside in the kitchen cabinet to be ignored.

_Alfred_…Arthur mused. As one of the birds scooted down to another bird, their bodies so close they looked all cozy, a new thought came to him, and it would not leave his head. It rankled. _If his father found out_…Arthur grimaced at the thought of being cut off. _Yes_, Arthur thought, _it might just be fun to try out, right?_ Arthur opened up a new window in his browser and started typing.

"Hi!"

Arthur was startled from his deep contemplation over the sudden quiz that had popped up after he had to enter his personal information. "Suraj, don't you have anything better to do?" Arthur didn't look at his beautiful skin the color of coffee latte, nor his lustrous black hair, or his beautiful chestnut brown eyes. Suraj leaned over Arthur causing a waft of spicy and musky cologne to come with the movement. Arthur closed his eyes for a moment. Why did his ex-boyfriend seem to think they were still friends? _Well, something like that_, Arthur thought bitterly, it had only been one disastrous date they had gone on, ending in absolute misery.

Suraj groaned, "You're not reading erotica again?"

"Shut it!" Arthur hissed, looking around them at the library. His protestation had been loud. "I. Am. Not."

"Hmm…" Came the distracted answer, as he peered at his screen. "Job application? A psychological exam? 'If you saw someone taking something and putting in his or her pocket, what would you do'…What is this? Are you applying for a job?" His hazel eyes just looked at Arthur amused, "What will your father say?"

"It's not his life, is it?" Arthur felt the anger and worry clench inside him, "Plus, it's not like he pays attention. I keep my studies up and still do well I don't think it matters."

"My parents would kill me." Suraj said. "I am going to become a doctor, marry a good Indian girl, and their plans for me will not be thwarted." He smiled at Arthur, "and didn't your dad let you change your major already?"

"You're talking like he controls my life."

"He does." Suraj cheerfully affirmed, "You don't see it. But without him you wouldn't be able to go to university, wouldn't get the right contacts to make it in the world, and fly back and forth from England to the States."

Arthur was angry. "You don't know my family."

Suraj looked at him steadily, "I'm just saying as your friend that you should watch what you are doing."

"Watching porn again?" A cheerful loud Australian accent came right behind Suraj to Arthur, which he promptly ignored. Jack was overly cheerful and oftentimes just liked to piss Arthur off for no reason.

"Arthur's getting a job! For some mysterious reason, that has nothing to do with money or boredom." Suraj greeted Jack with a grin.

"Won't that get in the way of your social life, mate?" Jack said straight-faced, as Sundaya muttered, "what social life?" They snickered. Jack kept on in his confident insistent way, "Why do it?"

"It's none of your business," said Arthur coldly.

The two looked at him, and then started laughing. Jack gave Arthur a slap on the back, and started talking about cricket and rugby with Suraj while Arthur ignored them.

Arthur slowly went through the ridiculous bloody test that he did not want to fail or lie on, so desperately did he want the job. His stomach flipped as he finally got through the job application and hit the submit button. It was such a long shot, and who even knew if he would see Alfred. His ears flushed.

"Hey, Arthur, you going back to the dorms?" Jack was saying as Suraj waved his good-bye. "Can I have your spot here?"

Arthur ceded his seat to Jack, packing up his laptop, and heart thumping in nervousness, couldn't even focus on what the rest of the conversation was. He would go back to the dorms to recover, maybe make a nice cup of tea. It was the first time since he had asked his father about changing his major that he had ever felt so wound up.

Walking back to the dorms, Arthur heard crying from the student parking lot nearest to the path. Low sobs, a girl, Arthur could tell by the pitch, and they were heart wrenching. "Hullo?" he called out, not seeing where she was amongst all the cars. "Are you alright?" He could still hear the weeping; it hadn't abated. "I'm here to help you." It seemed stupid to get in such a situation, but he couldn't help wondering what was going on.

Walking over the lot and looking around, he finally saw the source of the weeping crouched between a red beat-up station wagon and shiny silver car. She was bent over, as if she couldn't get up to stand. Her crying was almost unbearable now to Arthur. He could feel his throat getting tight with empathy.

"Hi," he said softly, crouching down a couple feet from her, "Hi, I can help you. Do you need me to get security? 999?" shaking his head suddenly, "No, 911?" She looked up, her red hair falling about her shoulders, grey blue eyes filled with tears. Arthur stared numbly, her clothes were bloody, and the bloodiest cloth was held out twisted in front of her.

She wailed then, holding out the bloody cloth towards him. Horror-stricken, Arthur could only stare, and stutter, "I can get help. Are you okay? Who did this?" The tears fell in thick bands down her face. She shook her head emphatically, shuffling closer to him, holding out the garment dripping red.

"No." Arthur said, shaking his head now, "No!" He realized that she wasn't human and what she really was. "No! Go away!" The girl stumbled towards him, her eyes filled with pain as if trying to communicate with him, but all that came from her mouth was the weeping and sobbing shriek. _Understand_, her eyes seemed to plead, _understand_.

"I know what you mean!" he snapped, his temper rising. "I don't care what you say."

Her head bowed and she slowly retreated, vanishing before his eyes. Arthur realized he was shaking then, and he pressed his hand over his eyes. Trying to get his wits together, this had been too much for him to take in.

Going to his dorm and straight to his studies was hard, but after a good cup of tea, he finally felt his stomach calm down, and his heart stop hurting. Spending the rest of the evening at the art studio later, he felt back to normal, as if it had never happened.

Coming into a dark dorm room he didn't turn on the lights. He had been graced with a wonderful roommate, thank god, for not many people could get along with him too well, or not at least living with him. The choice had been based on the survey they had been given as Freshmen, noting preferences for sleep times, music likes, study habits, and if they were a morning or night person. Luckily, for once, he found out they had actually regarded his preference of early to bed and early to rise, and he had been placed with a Japanese-American student named Kiku.

They instantly bonded over their love of tea and quiet study. Their personalities were different, for as Arthur's temper exploded and raged, Kiku's was a quiet wrath that was intimidating in its precise and ruthless focus. Where Arthur was forgetful and slightly messy in an artistic, wabi-sabi way, Kiku was punctual, organized, and tidy. The two seemed to mesh in the way that Kiku didn't care if Arthur was gay, and Arthur didn't mind that Kiku did karaoke, went clubbing randomly, and sexiled him sometimes. Arthur just enjoyed the peace of their dorm. Some made fun of him (Francis) and called them old men, but Arthur knew that if anyone could keep a secret it was Kiku.

He had found out the time he kept leaving salt on the windowsill his freshman year, and Kiku kept cleaning it up. When Kiku asked why he kept doing such a strange thing, Arthur admitted to him that he could see the little people, and prepared himself to pack up and get a new roommate. Instead, Kiku had merely nodded and said, "My grandmother could do the same. The desert spirits came to talk to her when she was in an internment camp," and he never removed the salt again. Although from then on the salt was tidied precisely like a rock garden row.

"Kiku, are you still awake?" asked Arthur from his bottom bunk.

"Yes," Kiku said, and meant it, since he sounded like he had been thinking.

"I saw a banshee today."

There was silence. "The portent that signifies death?"

"Yes."

There was shift, and shiny black hair swung around Kiku's face as he leaned over his bunk to speak to Arthur. "You must be careful."

"I know, I know," muttered Arthur, scowling into the dark.

"More than you know, you should watch carefully. Although," Kiku admitted, "One cannot change when he is going to die."

"Thanks, Kiku," came the sarcastic response.

Or, Kiku said thoughtfully, "Maybe it is just a warning, or means another kind of death." Then Kiku swung up again, the bunk's springs creaking, "Have you done something different recently?"

Arthur's life was routine. Study, argue with his so-called friends, sleep, tea, and long for the pub and proper football matches. "No. Not really."

"What about Alfred?"

Arthur could feel his face turn bright red, he shouldn't have told Kiku about his awkward shopping experience. "W-what?"

"You said he had wings, maybe he is a bad portent too?"

"N-no. He's just high fae. You know. I-I just was grateful for his help."

Kiku was silent, and Arthur could just feel his roommate know he was lying.

"A-a-and after all, it was nothing."

"If you say so, Arthur," was Kiku's quiet response.

"Do you want to go to the store with me tomorrow? I could show you." Arthur was desperate to prove his point.

"Maybe."

Ah, thought Arthur, that meant no.

"Alright, mate, just offering."

"I'm just offering that you should be careful. Avoid these spirits for awhile." Kiku's disapproval meant a lot to Arthur. It meant Kiku cared for him, and it made Arthur feel good.

"Thanks, Kiku."

"Good-night."

"Good-night."

Arthur couldn't sleep; he stared at the moon peeking through their window like a headlight from a car. The night seemed to go on forever, and he heard people finally coming back to the dorm from wherever, yelling, talking, laughing, and one student singing as he passed. When he did fall asleep he dreamt of bright blue eyes in the face of a familiar man who led him deeper and deeper into a wood. His hand held his tightly, and Arthur woke before he found where they were going.


	4. Chapter 3

_"To show our simple skill,_

_That is the true beginning of our end."_

_-Midsummer's Night Dream, Shakespeare_

It had been a long morning shift, but Alfred was dressing to go to Faerie. It was no good trying to hide that he was an 'inbetween', but he tried to hide as much of his mortal self as he could. He pulled on his tightest pants, his leather coat, not his grandfather's bomber jacket from World War II; he didn't want it to get wrecked. An acquaintance of his mom had said although human wars made Faerie recede and often go to war also, he told Alfred he should honor his human side that fought for freedom.

Shrugging on his messenger bag, he turned to face the mirror. Seeing his glasses still on, he plucked them off. Inserting his contact lenses he felt safer. Nothing to show that he was part of the mortal world unless people looked really closely. They really were an insignificant prescription anyway; he got them when his parents and teachers thought he wasn't doing well in school because he couldn't see the board clearly.

A sharp rap interrupted him trying to make his hair stay down. His mother peered around the corner of his door. She furled in her wings and sat down on the edge of his bunkbed and said, "Can we talk?" She tucked her lovely long blonde hair behind her ears. Wearing soft neutral earth tones that made her seem like a beautiful living, breathing statue, she put her elegant long fingers in her lap. "I think we need to talk about life choices."

"Mom!" Alfred rolled his eyes. "I know what I'm doing!"

Her lips pursed and she finally sighed. "Truly, my sweetling, your Father's and my troubles should only be our own troubles. You need to live your own life."

"I am living my own life," Alfred said, trying to still be cheerful, "I'd just rather not live without Dad. I gotta do this. Plus, you don't understand, you fit in there-I don't."

"You think I don't understand?"

"No," Alfred said seriously. "You don't." His frustrations at never seeming to fit in either world was driving him insane, and his mother telling him that she knew how it was to be reviled in one world, and treated as if strange, stupid, and incompetent in the other. "And don't give me that bullshit," his mom gasped at his swearing, "about being alienated. That was your own choice."

He watched her hoping she'd just get as angry as he felt, and leave him alone. She didn't. She just looked sadder.

"I wish I had never been born." Alfred said, and looked into the mirror, his blue eyes staring back, his wings still furled up.

His mom's reflection behind him looked as if someone had slapped her.

She rose, the curtains of her hair falling about like water, shimmering in the sunlight. "I will never regret that I bore you. I will never be sad or unhappy that I gave birth to my lovely Alfred. I will never stop loving you. That I held you in my arms and saw those tiny wings and beautiful aura of silver. You are my baby and nothing that's happened or will happen is your fault."

She leaned up to kiss him on his forehead. His closed eyes had suspicious wells around them. "So tall. Just like your father. You and Mattie. Now I have to stand on my tiptoes."

"Mom." Alfred was afraid to talk more; his voice had broken on the one word. He swallowed, stopping his tears. He had learned that trick years ago.

"Plus, I wish you all the best. I just hate the fact that you are running with those clods and dirties."

"Dirties?" Alfred snickered. His mom had been living in the mortal world for over seventeen years, but she still fumbled or played with the English language.

"You know what I mean." Her eyebrows rose to complement her serious "mom face".

He just shrugged. His mom would never want to know what the High Fae had done to him. How they tried to break his spirit and did things that made him feel so dirty that he would never get clean again. These people he was going to meet in the 'inbetween' were dangerous, but they would never dare do to him what happened some nights.

As Alfred left his apartment, he pondered the stupidity of the truth. Secundus and Thebes were definitely dirty, wandering the outskirts of Faerie, the inbetween lands. Walking to the riverbank, he wandered close to the edge, skirting the random fallen trees and muck that might collapse and suck him in.

The deepest portion swirled not from the current and it was here that Alfred stopped to see a river horse raise his ghostly head. Eerie glowing eyes and mane dripping with water plants, the kelpie spoke, "Ah, it is the mortal with wings. What do you want, pretty thing? I could give you your wildest dreams."

"Don't give me that shit." Alfred said bored, but the illusive question had brought to his mind a handsome green-eyed man, naked and writhing in pleasure beneath him, mouth open in ecstasy. "I'm sick of it." He tossed an apple from his jacket pocket to the water horse. It neighed with haughty fervor.

"What is that?"

"I picked it out of leftovers at work. It has all the sweat of unhappy workers on it."

"Mortal desperation."

"Desperation, boredom, crushed dreams, yeah, so shut up."

Alfred moodily sat by the riverbank. He didn't know why he always tempted fate this way. His human side longed to swim out and tell his wildest dreams to the Kelpie as the waterhorse would sink down and drown him in the process.

"I could totally last eight seconds."

"Eight seconds, mortal-wings?" The Kelpie was munching on the apple.

"Like a god-damn rodeo. Alfred F. Jones, bareback bronco Kelpie champion!" He rose yelling with hands raised in fake acclaim, his spirits suddenly up. The horse watched, the eyes following the boy jumping about the rocks on shore.

The kelpie nickered, "What do you want? I'm feeling generous."

"Keep that in mind Kelpie! I'll be back again!" Alfred yelled back, running down the bank, feeling as if this night actually would be worth it.

The Kelpie just rolled his eyes, sinking down, down, down hoping for another prey.

Greeted by eerie lights that guided people to their place or to their ruin, Alfred followed the will-o'-wisps down the river into the woods. "Take me there," he whispered to them. "I need something good tonight."

As the mist gathered, lingered in tendrils, and the will-o'-wisps slowly led him towards the wood, a gravelly voice called, "Hey, half-mortal." A stone came hurtling his way. "Do I ever have something for you!" The wisp made a weak noise at the intrusion and vanished.

The two he had hoped to run into, Alfred turned, steadying himself internally. "Thebes, Secundus, hey."

"Got something for you. For you and your sad family." Thebes was pretending to wipe tears from his eyes, "Boo-hoo. You want your daddy."

Alfred's fists clenched, and his anger grew, but he knew it would do him nothing to say anything in response. "What do you have?"

Secundus' voice was brittle, chilly, and painful to hear. She said in a fake whisper, and clicked her teeth, "From Queen Mab herself."

"Shut the fuck up! Why the hell are you saying her name?" Alfred was infuriated, and actually more afraid than anything. The last thing he needed was for the Unseelie court to come down upon them. He would never get to explain to his Mom what happened to him; he would never make out of this wood alive.

"Just kidding!" The two laughed, as if it had been the best joke. "Nah, it's from the other one. You know, the Queen who loved your mommy's kin." Thebes' eyes were ringed in a green color that reminded Alfred of poison. He watched Alfred carefully.

"We might just get to tell you where your daddy is. You know your sex-whore of a daddy." Alfred just gritted his teeth. "Your mommy, she misses him? Misses her good man-slut?"

"What. Is. The. Thing?" Alfred said carefully, his anger inside now raging.

"The queen is sad. She's missing something."

"Get a scryer."

Secundus picked her sharp teeth with her long ugly nails, "Nope. Not that kind of thing. She needs something better. Special." She had moved closer to Alfred, grinning, her foul breath making him want to retch.

"She needs a human."

"I don't do kidnapping," Alfred said, his heart wrenching, he had been so close.

The two watched him closely. "Not even for your family?" They were now being civil with him, pretending they hadn't just called his dad a whore.

He swallowed. "No." Heroes had to stand somewhere. _Sorry dad_, he thought.

"Well," Thebes said, "It was nothing anyway. Just a special kind of human. Not many of them. Rare. Maybe we don't 'kidnap' them. Maybe we just 'borrow'."

"Borrow?"

It was a sneaky loophole, Alfred thought, but it meant that the human might make it out of the situation alive. Maybe would just have an experience that seemed like a trippy dream. But would wake up the next day, alive. The two saw his contemplation, so Secundus smirked and continued.

"Yeah, you know, those stones that let you see our kind?"

Seeing-stones. Alfred had heard of them. His glamour would just vanish when someone would look through the stone at him. "Yeah."

"There's people who can see us. See us without those nasty magic stones."

"The Sight?" Alfred said, his stomach sinking, " Her Majesty needs someone who can "See"?"

The two smirked at him. "Hard, isn't it? But you'd know where your dad is. Maybe go rescue him? Maybe get a boon from the Queen."

"Oh, yeah," Secundus screeched, "that boon she mentioned."

Alfred quailed inside. This was one of the most distasteful things he had to do so far. But it would get him into the final circle of the Queen. A boon? It was unheard of, at least for his type. One favor from the Queen could free his dad! Only problem was that Alfred had never met a mortal that could "see" his kind.

A human who could "see" could be used as a tool that could ruin his mom's security for example, and Mattie's. A mortal with sight could see past all the barriers to find the hidden fae in the city. There were many that were criminals hiding from Faerie for good reason, but some were innocent and trying to make a new life without the burdens Faerie put on them, like his parents had tried.

How did one find a mortal such as that? It was almost an impossible task. Alfred grimaced, and said, "I'll take it."

The two laughed. "Good little half-mortal. What a lucky day is this?" They handed him a token. As it reached Alfred's hand the deal had been struck.

Grabbing Thebes, he wrenched the goblins putrid clothing and punched him square in the face. "Argh." The goblin howled, and Secundus launched herself at Alfred and with her long nails scratched his arms. He fought both of them, striking Thebes one more time and tripping Secundus to fall on her face. Then the tide turned and even his weight lifting and working out could not prevent Secundus holding his arms back as Thebes punched him in the face.

He ran then, holding his already swelling eye. "Shit," he muttered. "Fuck this." Borrowing a human, compromising everything, what had he done? And how was he going to explain his eye to his mom? The rare person who had the sight better show up and soon. He had to think about this. _Think, think, think_, Alfred thought as he ran back through the river bottoms, leaving the yelling and bellowing of the goblins far behind.

As he made it back to where the Kelpie usually lurked, he saw a light. A little lantern was bobbing about near the shore, and he heard a grunt and a slight plop as a fishing line hit the water. "Nob? Is that you?"

The small gnome peeked about his little wood shack he was sitting under near the waters edge, "What is it, half-fey? What have you gone and done now?"

Alfred ran to the other side of the little makeshift shelter and sat beside it as if it would protect him. Nob raised his lantern to peer at him. "What did you do to your eye? What is your mom going to say?" Alfred just hugged his knees with one hand, his eye hurt so badly, all he could do was hold it with his other hand. "You didn't do something stupid?" The gnome took out the little pipe he was smoking, and patted the teenager on the back. "You are always wont to play the hero."

"I did something stupid."

The gnome hissed, but without any malice. "Of course you did. Always getting into fights without thinking."

"I thought!" Alfred protested. "I thought about how I was going to hit him for a good ten minutes!"

The gnome laughed, grumbly and deep. Nob was one of the first fairy folk Alfred had met on his first misadventures to Faerie. Nob was also the first fae he liked when the gnome always offered him shelter, advice, and protection. Young, and upset by how he was treated, the gnome had let him stay by him as he fished along the river, and didn't chide his crying.

"Maybe," the gnome leaned in conspiratorially, "maybe we'll catch that damn Kelpie."

Alfred laughed then, "You mean more like kelp."

"Whatever. I have my ways," the gnome said with a superior air. "Plus, let's get some of that eye fixed."

Alfred had left the gnome to his fishing after Nob had reduced some of his swelling on his eye. He had appreciated Nob lifting his spirits, because he still felt sick from what he had done. No one wants to be a kidnapper. No one wants to jeopardize his or her loved ones, but it was his only chance.

But was that a good enough excuse?

"Jones." The Russian accent thicker in the night air greeted Alfred as he climbed out of the undergrowth onto the sidewalk above the park.

"Ivan." Alfred was breathing hard from that stupid grape root that tangled about the trees and tried to catch him. "What are you doing out?"

"I should ask you the same thing?" The Russian slurred a bit.

"Is that vodka?" Alfred looked warily at the bottle next to his coworker.

"Yes. You should come have some, friend."

Alfred and alcohol did not mix well. He guessed it was from his fairy side, but it was like getting high and having a heart attack at the same time, "No thanks."

"Pussy."

Alfred just looked away.

"What happened to your eye? Hey Jones, you aren't supposed to fight anyone else but me. You," Ivan pointed at it unsteadily, his scarf still wrapped around his neck muffling his voice, "you should put something on that. Meat. Waste of good meat, but something."

"Thanks Ivan." Alfred said, "I've gotta go."

"Sure Jones, sure. You tell anyone you run around the river bank at night?"

"Fuck you."

Ivan toasted him with the vodka bottle.

Alfred ran quickly home. He made sure no one was following. At the first barrier he breathed a sigh of relief. Looking up he saw that his room light was on, and then it just flickered off. Thank God, he breathed, Matt had gone to bed. There was no explaining this to him.

Guilt followed him like a plague. It's for Mom and for Matt, he told himself over and over. He hoped the person who had this "sight" would stay far away. Maybe then he would never finish his mission, and never have to deal with the repercussions. Alfred knew though, that would never happen. He had to save his family. He was a hero. Right?


End file.
